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keithbob wrote:
all you hear is dragons dragons,when they run towards the hazell before the start of the game and during the game.so what the hell is wrong with just calling us DRAGONS?.simples!

Because its dreadful, unimaginative, homogenous dross. If there has to be a silly moniker, then have something that resonates, like Siurians, Usksiders or Bowmen, a name that links the franchise to the local AND historical, not one borne of a typical, superficial, shallow, obvious harking to all things Wales.

As my name suggests, I want a Newport stand alone, no question, but this last 11 years has wore me down, and frankly, things move on. However the fact remains that issues of identity beset this 'region', and need to be resolved. I am still, after 11 years, frequently agitated when individuals choose to ignore the fact that Newport RFC as it was continues to exclusively underpin the regional team and that the 50% share held by WRU seems to have no discernible impact on that arrangement. It certainly hasn't led to additional investment above and beyond the central monies it disburses on a central basis under the Participation Agreement, so what value - as a business partner in the truest of senses - does it really add? I'm going for near or at the 'negligible' mark.

I want Newport back, with a moniker if needs be, playing in black and amber, but given rampant parochialism, typical south-east Wales chippiness, the obsessive powerlust displayed by certain parties in certain administrations, and an unwillingness to acknowledge certain structural realities, means that's not likely to happen. Disgracefully.

But I miss watching rugby and would dearly love to get behind pro rugby again. And the fact is, I can't as it stands. And nor, I'm going to wager, are many, many, many like me, who are alienated by arrangements. But like I said, I want to watch pro rugby.

I pray for Hazell and Lewis and other board directors to have the courage to be brave enough and say we need to try something new. And something new could just convince naysayers like myself. Old(er) age has taught me (a degree) of compromise, as I'm sure it has most others. If 'Gwent' truly isn't going anywhere, then a revisiting of other aspects could just convince me: Newport Gwent Bowmen playing in black, amber and white only might just do it for me (even though, as I type, I desperately wish to erase 'Gwent'). Please, no more red, it has no association with the ground.

But the most important matter, NEVER addressed, remains, the 50% WRU share, something that simply has to hinder more than help. It might be that it has expedited the likes of Appleyard moving to RP, and could even pave the way for Adam Jones, if he does indeed sign a central contract, but ultimately the sports business like any other is exclusively concerned with the maximising of revenue streams (profit being a non-starter). The 50/50 Newport/WRU set-up renders the benefactor required to financially contribute, exclusively, while not having the legal means to wholly shape the outfit's destiny.

Would you go into business, using your cash and your cash alone, to then undertake all day-to-day management, using your own resources, land and real estate, to cede a veto to a business partner who has no discernible financial contribution to offer? Strikes me as perverse and nonsensical. (And its that that then has me wanting Newport Black and Ambers and nothing else!!).

At the very least, the WRU should have the courage to gift its shares and voting rights to the only 'partner' (some might say, according to this analysis, patsy) willing and able, and available, for the past 11 years to operate an enterprise. They don't even have to say thank you.

Newport Gwent Bowmen? Think you can be sure you represent a minority with that one. I agree the regional game and rebranding left alot behind but many have just moved on now. Even at their lowest ebb the Dragons can draw 4k plus. If they won every week it would much higher. Opinion will always be split over the name, though I honestly think the majority are more concerned about the performances nowadays.

Many have moved on, but not enough for it to be a going concern.

I think many would argue that there are no profitable pro sides in rugby. The Dragons financial director did claim the Dragons had balanced the books last season and would show a small profit as a business. The real cost being to the team and the performances I suppose. I still say a winning team will bring in the fans, regardless of the name."

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